I've been preparing for confession for a few days now, and I went to the late morning session at our parish. I had examined my conscious as carefully as I could, so imagine my surprise when the priest told me that one of the sins I had just confessed wasn't a sin at all. I had been certain it was a venial sin (which I know we don't have to confess but it was really bothering me). I wasn't sure what to do, so I just said, "Yes, Father" to his explanation and then continued.

I really don't know what to make of it. Even now, I'm pretty darn sure I was sinning. I know regardless of what the priest says, God will forgive me because I confessed and repented, willingly and sincerely. But, blimey, what a predicament!

I need some advice from any of you out there who are wiser than me (if there's anybody who still happens to be reading this painfully boring blog of mine). If I should happen to fall into this action again -- which I still consider a sin -- I think I ought to confess it again. But in doing so, would I be disobedient to the priest's instruction today? And what if I should confess it again to a different priest, and he agrees with me that it is a sin? It's not that I expect every priest to agree with every other or to be flawless in their instruction or anything -- I'm just not sure how all this works.

Please help me out and offer your thoughts by e-mail to sparki777(at)yahoo(dot)com. I will post everything here because I think there are still a few new converts out there reading, and they may find your insight equally helpful.

Help!

--Sparki

P.S. Yes, I know I promised comments capability a long time ago, but I simply can't figure it out. I drafted an HTML-savvy pal of mine to help, but we haven't been able to find a compatible time with which to do it. Hopefully I'll have comments up and running by the end of summer. My apologies!